@James Is the demo just the waking up & initial house exploration or does it go further? I visited their studio and tried something alpha-ish a few months ago, but haven't had time to download the new thing yet. Remember it was creepy & atmospheric back then but that the paths were a bit non-intuitive when I played (which can be bothersome when you're walking at a 2-yearold's pace).

It's a little easier to hit things in Blood Dragon than the original Far Cry 3. The weapons you get in Blood Dragon are equivalent to the 'best' weapon of each category in Far Cry 3, where you start with weak guns and have to buy better ones.

Far Cry 3 is far more about not being seen, you can get killed far easier.

So I've only played about an hour's worth of Hitman: Absolution. Already, the obsessive need to carry out jobs in as slick and sneaky a way as possible is taking hold. Meaning I'll definately have to go back and find something more creative than just blowing up someone's car ...

Today, Microsoft officially announced their new hardware, the Xbox One. Today, I realized their vision of the next generation and mine are completely incompatible. Games will be announced at E3 so maybe I'll change my opinion then? The multimedia device MS had on stage, however, didn't interest me in the slightest.

It feels like MS is doing their best to carve out a unique position for themselves in the marketplace, and I just don't know right now what seems the most commercially viable out of the three competitors out there: The PS4, the Xbox One, the Wii U and the OUYA. I'm including the OUYA here, because... Who the heck knows at this point?

For myself, the most compelling choice is a PS4 and maybe a second generation OUYA if it takes off. I can't afford three full-price consoles.

PS4 is what I've got my eye on too, with a certain level of caution. I'm sure MS will do quite well with the thing they've designed, but I'm equally sure I don't need or particularly want it. As for the Wii U, well, I have to admit I enjoyed the hell out of Lego City Undercover, and hope to own another game for it again some day.

Probably getting a WeeOo once the unmissable Nintendo games come out for it. Maaaaaybe when Pikmin comes out. Maybe.

Definitely getting a PS4. I enjoy Sony's approach more than MS's, though they both have their upsides. Skeptical about MS's "install every game" thing, too... I wonder if Sony'll have their version of that, now that MS is out with theirs, or if they'll use that relative freedom as a selling point.

Considering how often my current XBox arbitrarily decides it can't find the network, I'm not thrilled by this reported need to go online once a day.

That said, I'm not sure it's worth getting all that excited about new consoles, one way or the other. See how things are looking a year from launch, once the decent titles are releasedand the bugs have mostly been ironed out.

The PS4 reveal wasn't exactly the most inspiring thing ever, but they did try to allay people's fears. Microsoft seem to have lifted their arm and shirt and pointed between their ribs and said to Sony, "Stick your knife in right here."

The whole presentation was of a company trying to extricate itself from the games market.

Oh, ye of little faith: CoD-Dog vil save us all! His fur: So furry! His features: So scanned from a real dog! We got a Hollywood-guy to write his woofy dialogue! Love is inevitable!

But yeah, that conference was a lot of wasted air. Unless you like sports.

@James Great article. One thing about Quantum Break and the FMV that seems to have been undercommunicated, though: It's a TV show AND a game. So, it's a cross media property like Defiance, basically, with ingame stuff affecting the outcome of the series. Which is to say, a cool idea that's going to feel great if someone actually figures out how to do it right. Which I dunno if Defiance did (hear the game is kinda cookiecutter, but I got it for free, so I'm gonna give it a spin one of these days)